North Korea criticizes Ukraine – The statement came a day after Ukraine cut diplomatic ties with North Korea.
The statement came a day after Ukraine cut diplomatic ties with North Korea, criticizing the country for its move to independently recognize the two separatist regions of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) in eastern Ukraine.
The move makes North Korea the third country to recognize the independence of Ukraine’s two breakaway regions, after Russia and Syria.
Donetsk and Lugansk provinces, located in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, have been a flashpoint of fighting since 2014, after residents there demanded a failed increase in autonomy and organized an armed protest movement.
Before the outbreak of hostilities in February, the Ukrainian government twice launched a large-scale military operation to regain control of Donbass, but was unsuccessful.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin On February 21, DPR and LPR were recognized independently.
Moscow three days later launched an operation in Ukraine aimed at “demilitarization, decolonization”.
Russian forces aimed to “liberate” Donbass and took control of Lugansk.
Russia has a border with North Korea and has been building relations with the country since soviet times.
In 2019, an estimated 10,000 North Korean workers worked in Russia, in the fields of mining, textiles and construction.
